Monday 15 November 2010 17.30 EST
First published on Monday 15 November 2010 17.30 EST

Andy Carroll is still clinging to the hope that he could make his England debut in tomorrow's friendly against France after the Newcastle forward was retained by the national squad despite suffering a minor groin injury at the weekend. The 21-year-old suffered discomfort during Saturday'sgoalless the draw with Fulham but travelled down and reported for duty with Fabio Capello's party on Sunday evening at their hotel base in Hertfordshire. He was not involved in the training session at London Colney yesterday with the squad's medical staff still monitoring the injury, and instead underwent a scan. While the Football Association was not revealing the extent of the damage that had been revealed by those tests last night, the fact that Carroll is remaining with the squad suggests the possibility is intact that he could be fit enough to feature against Les Bleus. Indeed, Capello anticipates the striker will train with the rest of the 23-man squad at Wembley today in a bid to prove his fitness.

Carroll remains the most intriguing of the forward options available to the Italian in this squad in the absence of key injured personnel but, should the Newcastle forward be ruled out, there remains the possibility that Jay Bothroyd of Cardiff City could start at Wembley and become the first player from the Championship to play for England since David Nugent in March 2007.Dominic Fifield